January 14 Conditions

Friday 31st January 2014

Forcan Ridge and snowhole

The last couple of days I was out with Ian in Glen Shiel. We climbed Forcan Ridge on Wednesday and then snowholed on top of The Saddle. Most of the ridge was buried in snow. The upper sections had huge amounts of snow with a dramatic wind sculptured knife edge ridge. There was a lot of windslab on the North side of the ridge.

The forecasted improvement to the weather for Thursday didn't quite come right so after a slow start with plenty of hot porridge we headed down off the hill.

I was working for Martin Moran this last week.

Tuesday 28th January 2014

Mountaineering in the North West Highlands

For the last 3 days I have been out with Richard and Ian in the NW Highlands.

On Sunday we went up Druim Thollaidh on the south side of Glen Shiel. It was mostly windy and snowy but the front seemed to pass through quite early and leave us with squally showers. We had a good day of familiarisation with winter skills.

On Monday we headed up onto Liathach hoping to do a ridge traverse but the wind was a lot stronger than was forecast so we bailed early.

Today was the best weather day so far with winds less than predicted and a great day ascending Deep South Gully on Beinn Alligin.

Tuesday 21st January 2014

Four days in Lochaber and Glencoe

I was climbing with Dave and Don the last four days over in the West Highlands. The weather has been settled but with a low pressure in charge it has been dull and murky with a generally warm southerly air flow.

We managed to have 4 good days out. Curved Ridge on the Buchaille all to ourselves on Friday. A busier day on the Ben on Saturday on the South West Ridge of the Douglas Boulder. Sunday we climbed the East Ridge of the North top of Stob Ban in the Mamores and traversed the summit. Our final day, yesterday, we climbed Central Buttress via Raeburn's/Ordinary route which was a great way to finish Dave and Don's few days of climbing.

The freezing level has usually been above 800m where there is loads of snow. Below 700m there is little snow.

Monday 6th January 2014

Kingussie crag in the showers

The forecast for today was for very strong winds in the hills so we headed to Kingussie Crag instead. We had a productive day and the students from UEA were very hardy, even climbing in the sleet showers.

We looked at building anchors, tieing in, rope management, climbing and abseiling. I was working for Cairngorm Adventure Guides again today.

Sunday 5th January 2014

Wild and windy in the Cairngorms

In the Cairngorms today it started clear and cool with a slight breeze. It soon started to deteriorate with strengthening winds and lowering cloud level.

I was out with a team from the University of East Anglia. We were looking at mountaineering skills in Coire an T-sneachda. We got lots done before we finally got blown off the hill. Today I was working for Cairngorm Adventure Guides.

Saturday 4th January 2014

Winter in Lochaber

Today I was out with Tim for West Coast Mountain Guides and we headed up into the Mamores. We climbed the East Ridge of the North Top of Stob Ban.

There was very little snow below 600m but above that there was loads. We were wading through it on the top of the route. It was a lovely day out with good views and little wind. The freezing level was at about 800m.